Your Guide to Groundswell Year-End Giving

The end of the year is one of the busiest times for charitable giving. If you’re planning any year-end giving through Groundswell or want to take advantage of your company’s matching gift program, a little planning can help make sure everything is completed on time..

Use this checklist to get started and keep track of important year-end deadlines.

Start here: Check your company’s match deadline

Before making your year-end giving plans, check when your company’s matching gift program ends for the year.

You can find your program’s match period and available match information on the match card on your Groundswell homepage.

💡Tip: The match card is on the left side of your homepage, just below your welcome message.

Plan where you want to give

Already know which organization you’d like to support? Search for the charity in Groundswell before the end-of-year rush. Need help finding an organization, here are some tips and tricks that can help! (Hint: searching by EIN is usually the best way to find an organization.)

If you can’t find the organization, you can submit an Add Charity request for our team to review.

Because new organizations require additional eligibility and compliance review, we recommend submitting requests by:

• U.S.-based organizations: December 7, 2026
• Organizations outside the U.S.: October 1, 2026

Know your contribution deadlines

If you need to add money to your Groundswell account before making your donation, your deadline depends on how you’re contributing.

Different contribution methods have different processing times, so don’t wait until December 31 to get started!

Stock contributions

Recommended deadline: December 7, 2026

Stock contributions can take approximately 10 business days to process.

Submitting your stock transfer by December 7 gives your contribution time to arrive in your Groundswell account and gives you time to recommend donations to the charities you want to support before the end of the year.

Contributions from your bank account (ACH)

Deadline: December 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Bank contributions are recorded in Groundswell based on the date you initiate the contribution, even if the funds finish processing after year-end. To have your contribution recorded in Groundswell with a 2026 contribution date, initiate it by December 31 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Keep in mind that bank contributions take time (6 business days) to settle and may be delayed by federal holidays. If you’d like the funds to be available in your Groundswell account before the end of the year, we recommend initiating your contribution by December 23, 2026.

Credit or debit card contributions

Deadline: December 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m PST.

Card contributions generally process instantly, but we still recommend making your contribution and completing your year-end giving as early as possible.

Don’t forget about donations made outside of Groundswell

Did you make an eligible donation directly to a nonprofit outside of Groundswell that you’d like to submit for a company match?

Submit your receipt(s) by December 31, 2026 at 11:59 p.m PST.

A note about year-end contributions to your Groundswell DAF

If you're planning to make a year-end contribution to your Groundswell donor-advised fund (DAF), keep in mind that contributing to your DAF and recommending a grant to a charity are two separate steps. To learn more about DAFs, check out this article here.

You don't need to decide which charities you want to support before adding funds to your Groundswell account. You can contribute funds now and recommend grants from those funds later.

Note that DAFs, and the tax treatment described here, are a feature of the U.S. tax code. If you're based outside the U.S., the rules around contribution deadlines, tax deductibility, and fund structure may be different — or may not apply at all. Please check with a local tax advisor to understand how DAF contributions work in your country.

For questions about tax treatment, contribution timing, or your individual circumstances, please consult a qualified tax advisor.

Your year-end checklist

• Check the match deadline shown on your Groundswell homepage
• Review your remaining company match, if applicable
• Decide which charities you’d like to support
• Search Groundswell to make sure those organizations are available
• Submit any international Add Charity requests by October 1
• Submit any U.S.-based Add Charity requests by December 7
• Submit stock contributions by December 7 if you want time for them to process before year-end
• Submit offline donation receipts by December 31 at 11:59 p.m PST.
• Initiate ACH contributions to your DAF by December 31 at 11:59 p.m. PST
• Make any final credit or debit card contributions by December 31 at 11:59 p.m PST.
• Complete any matched giving before your company’s matching program closes for the year